A genetics term that refers to how the whole is the result of the workings of a bunch of different parts

Sunday, January 3, 2010

They're here! They're here!

I ordered a few seed/plant catalogs a couple of weeks ago, and two got here yesterday. Boy, there is nothing like the hope and promise of a seed catalog. Sure, you can do it, try some stuff you've never grown. Can't decide? Get both, or all three. It'd be really easy to go overboard with optimism.

But the fact that they came means winter can't possibly last forever, right? I should repeat at this point that I have virtually no luck growing things from seed. The desire is there, but the seedlings usually succumb to that damping off thing that makes them keel over and die. Perhaps I'll try to use all new stuff. I have a heat mat that I can set the tray on and I'll use that. Our local horticultural garden hosts a workshop on seed starting that I signed up for - maybe that will increase my chances of success.

One thing I have decided is that I'm going to site the beds (yes, I'm going to build another one to match the small one that used to be Mr W's sandbox) away from my fence a little so I can walk all the way around them, and fill in that space with mulch. Keeping the stuff away from the dog, (or is it the other way around?) will be a challenge, and I'll just have to see how curious she is. I lost most of the day lilies in the yard last year to dog nibbles, so I might have to keep her out somehow.

This has been such fun to think about, the garden and the home improvements. I realized that I really had been holding off on doing anything to this house that meant that I'd be staying for a while. I don't think there was a way around it, but now I feel like I've got a long list of things I'd like to do in and around it.

As Mr W gets older, the fact that this is a small house (~ 800 square feet upstairs, ~400 finished down) becomes more and more apparent. He's got a tiny bedroom and although he and his buds will play there sometimes when he's got friends over, they are otherwise in the living room, and I feel like I've got nowhere to go if I don't want to be doing kitchen stuff. Target online had a good sale and yesterday I bought three lamps, a couple of book cases, two end tables and a coffee table. Except for one lamp, I'll put these things in the basement, which I'll use for another living room and guest area.

Until then, I'll pore over the catalogs and try to be realistic as to how much food I should grow. Such fun!